Volunteers of the “Offensive Guard” continue to undergo intensive military training. Instructors of the 3rd brigade of operational assignment “Spartan” of the National Guard of Ukraine prepare assault units.
Training is conducted with large-caliber weapons, including machine guns. Military personnel study the tactics of a machine gunner in various combat conditions, learn to choose the right position and conduct camouflage, perform training exercises with standard weapons.
“At the training ground, together with the instructors, we train the personnel, namely we prepare them for offensive actions, using large-caliber weapons. Before shooting with personnel, several classes were held to study this weapon, its features, troubleshooting methods, minuses and pluses, and how best to use them. Today, we are practicing shooting exercises with real ammunition,” noted serviceman Houston.
The situation in the classes is as close as possible to combat. The task of instructors is to prepare fighters as effectively as possible so that they are able to respond to any scenarios of the development of combat encounters.
“Currently, we conduct training shootings with DShK and PKM machine guns, with AGS, GP-25, RPG-7 grenade launchers and an anti-aircraft gun. Before that, the fighters had a theoretical course. Currently, after a week of theory, we went to the range to shoot these types of weapons. There are a lot of trophy weapons – the PKM machine gun is also a trophy, we immediately work out the problems with this type of weapon that may arise during the battle, and this significantly increases the level of our professionalism,” noted the serviceman under the pseudonym Jozh.
“Working with this type of weapon is extremely difficult, requires manual guidance and maximum concentration,” the National Guardsman shares. He must be ready to open fire in the most important direction at any time of the day and under any circumstances, and the main thing is to analyze and adjust the results of firing.”
The training is intensive, special attention is also paid to the training of gunners, in addition to mathematical skills, anti-aircraft gunners must possess a cold calculation in order to skillfully destroy all types of targets on the ground and in the air. The ZU-23-2, which is in service with the military unit, is used to destroy ground lightly armored targets, helicopters, airplanes and unmanned aerial vehicles and has already shown its effectiveness since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in the Kharkiv and Luhansk directions.